I was watching “In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal” on Netflix and I have written about cults before but I had a thought this past weekend.
Of course the post has spoilers in case you want to watch the documentary.
I think what is common in almost all the cults is the power the leaders wield, sex and money. Those three things were common in the four cults featured and in really most, if not all, cults (and religions if we are to be honest).
What made me think about Christianity, because it is the religion I was brought up in, is how congregations are compelled by their leaders to do something that is so obviously antithetical to what is written in the bible.
In one of the cults in the documentary, the members killed people because they were told to by the leader. Even someone with only a basic understanding of the bible knows this shouldn’t happen. However, they went ahead and did it.
It’s the same way christians are told/taught to hate others and they do it despite one of the basic tenets of Christ’s teachings being about love.
And it is because at the end of the day, christians don’t care about loving their neighbours – they care about going to heaven. And to them, getting to heaven appears guaranteed if they listen to the religious leaders.
If there was no hell, what kind of person would you be?
It is also why they don’t question their religious leaders even when they are blatantly being reckless or even when they are being greedy and corrupt. Like, Christ said no business in church but somehow….. they have been able to explain this away.
But it has been made to seem like questioning the leaders is questioning God. I find it all to be unchrist like.
Christians PERFORM goodness because of the promise of Heaven.
Ciiku 